10 Mistakes Beginning Artists Make and How to Fix Them 

Alright, so today I finally decided I wanted to get back into drawing. I'd stopped when I was quite young, so my skills really haven't increased. I'm still better than I was (and some of my stuff actually looks pretty good), but I'm not where I'd like to be. Not even close to being a "good artist." Thus I began trying again. So I started looking up simple guides and reference images. There was one issue that jumped out at me: Every single guide I looked at told me a different way to start drawing; Every single reference I found had different tactics for getting the shape. I was being told to focus on the shapes, just make small lines, to make a single solid stroke for each line; being shown that I should do chicken scratch, that I should use fluid strokes, that I should just make line after line without using basic shapes. It was all just... overwhelming. And killed my motivation instantly. I sat back, defeated, and just stared at my drawing pad for a bit before putting it up and doing something less productive than bettering myself. Deciding that it's too late in my life for me to advance my art skills enough; that I should just focus on the couple of things I'm already good at. But now I've seen this and checked out some of the other videos you have on your channel. And I want to try again. You've rekindled my motivation and given me hope that perhaps I can still do this. Perhaps it's not too late for me. Thank you.

Eraser companies are built on your mistakes

When I was a kid I used to chicken scratch and I thought it was so cool- that 'iT wAs My sTyLe' lmao.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="498">8:18</a> I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. I remember seeing a gacha edit on twitter somewhere, and it had a really realistic and odd looking nose. The shading was amazing, and when somebody tried to KINDLY say “The shading is amazing, but the nose looks off!” And the person who made it BLEW UP. They got pissed, they started saying ‘IF YOU DONT HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY DON’T SYA ANYTHING.’ Dear lord, never face palmed harder.

"Look at the skeletal structure." Me who draws octopuses and squids: srsly

This whole video I was just screaming YES!!!!!! Great work please make more!

"Use the other end of your pencil!" B-but... I've erased it all away...

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="333">5:33</a> his "quick doodle " is 10 times better then anything I have made TwT

“Using the whole arm to draw” Me: *h o w-*

Me: has been drawing for over 5 years 1: chicken scratches Me: **guess I’ll die**

Another thing about that "it's just my style" claim You have to know the rules before breaking them You have to know how the thing you're drawing looks and works and feels like in real life (or would, if it's something that doesn't exist in real life) before getting stuck with a "style" A style is the product of reality and how the artist decides to portrait it, and if they reality part is missing pieces it shows. Use references :^)

"Don't draw only wolves" *only draws wolves throughout the entire video*

Me: * constantly draws dragons * Also me: * draws a fox * The fox: "Meow?"

“I don’t need no underline structure just like I don’t need no man” That made my day 😂

"you should use your shoulder" "you've probably been using your wrist" me, someone who uses their elbow: is this okay????

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="647">10:47</a> I've never been so offended by something I 100% agree with.

Personally I always have this procedure on different layers for my sketches. 1 - Guidelines (Stick figure and circles where the head and like wrists and such are) 2 - Shapes (Drawing basic shapes to plan out the body type etc) 3 - Body Chicken Scratching (Sketching the body in chicken scratches and maybe adding little indicators for details I wanna add later) 4 - Add details (face, clothes, jewelry etc) 5 - Refine (Go over the entire sketch on a separate layer to define the lines better) And afterwards I go on to lineart and the rest of the stuff.

I saw someone saying "Please dont draw just the head" and here's what I can add: Yes, start with the head. Learn how the form of a head and face works. Work on the face and expressions, the hair and whatever else. Go to the shoulders, learn how the collar bones look, mess with neck dimensions and angles, keep working on that head and face. Move to the torso, you dont have the do the whole thing, maybe just down to the hips or stomach. Then go the the arms, work on those, with or without drawing everything else beforehand. Everything is a process, learn how each part works first before lunging all in, That way when it comes time to add more body parts, more details, more posing you already know how one thing works which gives you more room to learn how the others do. So yes, dont just stay on the head and shoulders for too long, but also dont take that as we're saying "dont draw just the head it's unprofessional and wont help you learn!" No. No no no. work at your own pace. I started at just the head, then shoulders, then slowly got to everything else. I still suck with legs but hey, I know how to draw everything else on their own now with little to no reference! Keep going, buddy! You'll get it in your own time!

My problems: 1- SCHOOL IS HELLA LONG 2- number 1

For a while I chicken scratched my traditional lines cause I couldn't draw long lines without making them shaky, especially when lining my sketches. My brother made fun of me for it a lot, which only made me feel worse about my art and my single stroke long lines started looking worse than they had before. It took me ditching the medium entirely and switching to digital art for like a year to start feeling comfortable trying out traditional art again. Basically, it's fine to give kids helpful advice on how to advance their art, but don't like… bully kids because they're not good yet.

“God I am telling people to trace” “IM GONNA GET CRUCIFYED!”

People bitching about not having a tablet: Too relatable

Others: "I'TS JUST MY STYLE!" Me: "I'm just bad..."

“Or bitching about not having a tablet yet-“ I laughed WAY HARDER at this than I should have, because it’s literally me XD

Me, a writer who's bad at art, being recommended this video 2 Years late: "Hmm, interesting."

"Those who are still under two years of drawing-" *Me who has been improving for 6 years* "There is no hope"

My art is slowly turning into anime Which, is fine. But I don’t watch anime I’ve never drawn anime *I don’t understand* Edit: holy SHIT that’s a lotta likes Edit 2: there are too many comments I am too tired to read this many comments y’all please

“You’re going to want to use your shoulders more instead of your wrists..” Me on small tablet drawing with finger: *shwoopsie*

Me: *draws perfect line* Also me: *draws perfect circle* Triangle: hellooooo! Me again: *screech*

"God, I'm telling people to trace" "I'm gonna get *CRUCIFIED* " Honestly tracing isn't to bad if you don't steal it, what I did was if I wanted to try draw something, I would trace it, then do it on my own with the picture as a reference, then use it on my own but with my owm sorta style mixed in

Thanks man, I am a starting amateur and I've really just started making actual art. I enjoy making art but I had a lot issues saying that, of course, I'm a starting beginner and this helped me represent my drawings more correctly and less incorrectly. I can now use the things I've learned from this video to help bridge a path to something I really enjoy doing in my freetime. You're awesome, thank you so much!!!

Why the heck would anyone thumbs this down hes just trying to help!!!

Sees bullying part Reaction: *Wait people are supposed to criticize me? Then why am I the one bullying myself?! Life has failed me*

As a pre-teen I look at my art and think "man, I wonder how much better I will be at drawing when I'm like 25" Holy heck the likes :T

"Try something new, dont draw only one thing over and over again." Me who draws the same thing over and over again for 5 years:Oh... So that's why Im not getting better.REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

You know, I have come back to this video for the first time since I was a baby artist and honestly I realize how much improvement I’ve made since then, it’s crazy

Imagine a world where we refer to something as its shape- "Hey mom! Im gonna watch the big longated rectangle box now!!!" Or even worse....---- "Hey birth giver!!! I am going to gaze my spheres at the longated rectangular shape that displays the pixel colors of which are the images!!!" * *inahles* * Im terrified of a world like this

My problem with the experience waith 6: 2014:Ponies 2015:Ponies 2016:Ponies and Furries 2017:Furries and Humans 2018:Furries,Humans,Buildings,Nature,Pretty much everything except ponies. 2019: Litterly everything that i want,exept I'm bad at ponies again.

Him: "Use the construct line to help with the anatomy" Me: "Ok!" *comes back after 20 minutes* Me: "I realized I don't know how to do those lines!"

Almost 4 years later and this video has made me the artist I am today! I don't I could thank past you enough for taking the time to make this.

Things I'm struggling with 1. SHADING 2. Doing ditgaial art

heres the top five things for me 1. draw on the wrong layer 2. try eraseing it instead of cntrol z 3. accidentally erases line art 4. tries to replace the little bits but only messes it up more 5. FUUUU -edit- or for the traditional artist: 1. draw a sketch in pencil, all is well. 2. clean up the sketch, maybe add some things to make it look unuique 3. add background/ scenery because you are really liking it 4. bring out the pen for the line art and start tracing carefully. 5. MESS UP SOMEHOW ON THE LINE ART AND NOW YOU CANT HECCIN ERASE

"Draw different things, draw new things." Me over here mad I cant draw the same damn thing twice or stick to a style.

I know this has been uploaded years ago but I just want to say, thank you. I'm an artist that came back after years of hiatus. The development I've achieved is mind blowing. Things I could never draw before, now comes naturally to me. To all the young artists out there that feel like you aren't good enough, yes you are. Do not compare yourself to other artists. Instead, compare yourself to your own past art. I have my own timeline and it starts out slow at first but it snowballed into something more grand once I realized some simple things that I've always missed before. Love you guys. Keep it up!

Me: Hmm, I wonder what this is? It could help me out as an artist! Video: * first line * IM GONNA GET C R U C I F I E D

Self aware furries best furries

Bro, you have absolutely no idea how much this actually helped me. I just watched it and I think I might’ve leaked a tear or maybe two. I was afraid I’d be so reduced to a specific lens of drawing and being encouraged to look at new things and try diversity I think finally broke my bubble. Thanks man, appreciate it a lot.

I feel so called out....I AM TRYINGGG

“Don’t be afraid to use the other end of your pencil” I’ve erased so much I don’t even have another end Edit: omg thanks I did not realize how popular this got thank you

Erasing too much is my problem. My friends in art class get frustrated when I erase too much. :D

I've come back to this video a lot as I've learned more about art and it's still as accurate and as helpful as ever! Thanks a Zillion, you're so good at art!

I cannot stress enough trying new things to improve your art! One of my really clowe friends has been commisioning me to design his tattoos and when i say i have exponentially improved being constantly pushed out of my comfort zone these last few months compared to the other 10 years ive been doing art (in a plethora of different mediums) i seriously mean it❤

"There's no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone."

"OH GOD I'M TELLING PEOPLE TO TRACE!! I'M GOING TO GET CRUCIFIED!!" 😂

I’ve created several small “styles” of art. The vast majority of them are basically fan/concept art of my own imagined stories that I fantasize about making into comics or cartoons. But some styles I’m gonna legitimately use. On a different channel, I’m gonna start animating, and I’ve tested out several different styles to use and I’ve settled on one for now. And I’m even gonna recycle some characters from my test styles for different purposes in my animations. I’ve been drawing and sketching for years and years, but this video was still very helpful!! Especially the bit about doing warm up sketches. Thinking about it, I now notice that any time I’m making a sketch for a new character I’ll get better as I go along. And if I take a break and come back to make more sketches later that I make mistakes that I can’t be fine to figure out how to fix. But thank you for this!!

In all my years of drawing, I've never heard advice like that on developing a personal style before, I hadn't thought of it that way. Thank you for this whole vid ❤

I've just encountered this video in my recommended. I think YT has finally done something nice for me

a kid slapped me square in the face because an arm i drew on a character was off

For composers it's all very similar. However, for any creator too. I won't just rewrite all your wise and clear thoughts, but put on a big thumb up for you. Inspiring is amazing! Thank you, I've been watching you nearly since you're on yt, tho not so often. But I returned to this vid and now I'm inspired after a long depression and existential crisis I had. Peace!

You're now my favorite RU-vidr, top notch quality lmao Edit: I used to draw as a kid, I was never really good or even decent. I'm starting to learn again now. I'm terrible, still learning to draw basic 3d shapes with shading lol. Wish me luck.

Dear beginner artists: Please practice drawing bodies and not just the head. I always see people only drawing headshots and not drawing the bodies, so when they try to do a full body drawing, it ends up looking a little weird. I think the only way I can describe this problem is a lack of balance. You know when you see a drawing of a person with detailed eyes and really good hair, but the body is just a simple thing that is a little disproportioned and isn't as detailed as the head? Yeah. Also, the legs aren't a straight line and then two bumps at the back. It doesn't look natural. At least make the front of the leg a little curved, please. I think this happens alot because, again, the artist knows how to draw the head and but not the body, so the artist twists the body a little so they can draw the legs sideways, but since they didn't practice drawing legs or looking at references, it still ends up looking a little strange. I also see a lot of beginners give clothes the same textures. Different types of cloth are shaded and wrinkled differently. Heavy fabrics dont wrinkle as much and light fabrics tend to wrinkle a lot. I know I sound harsh, but I don't have a better way of giving advice without not making sense.

its nice to see no furry shaming in the comments. i myself am not a furry, and i'm not much of an animal person either, but i hate when people think of them as lesser because they aren't the same as what some people think a human should be like. if people like animals, drawing or dressing up as them, what's so wrong with that? when you are born, you have rights, and you can make your own choices. next time you see a furry, or just someone who really likes animals, or anyone who is different from the average person, please, do not insult them, because they like what they like and you like what you like, and they should never feel bad about that. except nazis. just keep being you, and ignore anyone who has a problem with it. thanks for listening to my weird rant thing. btw Imaginatively Unimaginative, your art is awesome.

When i come up ideas to draw or stuff i just put them in my reminders so that i can look at my ideas and do them when i have no ideas :3

I've been drawing for many years and even I learned stuff from this!! This is a great video for anyone wanting to start or improve their art

Drawings don’t have to be perfect REMEMBER THAT

People that ship their hybrid OCs: * exists * Me: let me introduce you to *sterile*

I just wanted to comment that this video right here is probably what started on my art journey. Back in the day, in 2018 when it first came out, I was still kind of a kid and I thought that this video was the coolest, most mindblowing genius thing in the world. I took a lot of the advice to heart and now, over 4 years later, I'm leagues better than I ever would have thought possible when I first watched this video. I just want to say thankyou, for leading me to my passion. This will forever hold a place in my heart as the catalyst for my entire art journey.

I’m not exactly a beginner artist(I’ve been doing this for like 3-4 years😭) and BARLEY GOT into diffrent perspectives other than foward facing or bases, Video was pretty helpful!,thanks!

Oooh this is an amazing video!! I learned so much :00 Also your production quality is top notch, this must have taken forever. Keep it up!! This is my new go-to video for new artists

Legit I've been drawing for 12+ years and some of your tips actually helped me still! And tbh, experienced artists i think erase so much more lmao

I’m kinda glad this came up on my recommended, it helped me with a few things I need improvement on. Thank you

Thank you for making this video, dude. It helped me a lot when I first saw it about a year ago, and rewatching it today just helped me even more :)

honestly, i'm struggling with: chicken scratch art drawing the same thing drawing one species immense fear of references finding time to practice art often doing the same type of art hiding limbs that i'm horrid at drawing, m ore-

“Or bitching about not having a tablet yet” It’s me i’m bitching

I absolutely LOVE using references!! Especially during art block. Its helpful.

Thank you for this video! Love it and I've watched it many times now! I've learnt so much from it so I really appreciate you taking the time in making this. Your art is amazing and I love how much it's improved over the years. I hope I follow the same path :)

"Under 2 years of drawing" Me: has been drawing for 10 years but I succ

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="426">7:06</a> Me: starts wheezing because im using charcoal

The style advice is the best art advice I've ever heard and I will take it to heart

I have been drawing for almost 6 years and many of these tips have helped me a lot, especially about sketchs to warm up

I was very hesitant in watching this video. All I thought was "ugh another one...seriously does every art channel have to do this?" But I still clicked it and watched because I like to learn when it comes to making art (good or bad). And honestly...this one blew me away! It was probably the best one out of the bunch!! And I have watched A LOT!!! You touched on points and keys that most don't even bother because it's not "Artist Like". Even when you talk about tracing...this part made me extremely happy!!! It almost seems taboo in the art world that you traced, if people found out, they think their followers will instantly turn their back on them. So they just keep it a secret or make it an annoying "dirty secret reveal" to let their fan base know. I just love how you explain that tracing isn't bad and how almost everyone starts out; me included! Also, it made me even more happy with the style part as well. I don't have a style and people would always get on my case about it; "You don't have a style; then you can't call yourself an artist!" *sighs* But hearing that it's okay to have different styles was really rather inspirational! Thank you for making this video!!!

My drawing tablet gets here tommorow, so i can move out of the 'bitching about not having a drawing tablet' stage ;w; Edit: i got my drawing tablet

ay, thanks for making this video and somehow getting in my recommended 4 years later lmao this shit genuinely helped me improve my sprites, so thanks!

Talking about warms ups, when I draw I tend to like the first thing I draw and if I try to draw something else in the same setting it doesn't turn out all that great. Not sure why, but warm ups are backward for me haha.

i used to trace ALL THE TIME, but later, my brother saw it and he told me about how unfair it is. i went back and scribbles *NOT MINE* on everything, so i guess, its ok to trace, as long as its for practice purposes, i just would not ever show it to anybody. ive been traced from, and ive had my art stolen before in highschool, its not a good feeling, so i wouldnt want to put that on someone else, its infuriating

"I hate charcoal!" Me: *breaths* CHARCOAL IS AMAZING

As a beginner artist, I think one mistake I made was being too stubborn on drawing on a certain way (that certain way looked terrible too lmao) and one thing that actually really helped me was going on pinterest and not tracing, but I would find something I like and try to draw in those different styles and try learning how to draw from references, I think that was one of the biggest boosts I have ever gotten of my art improving

this video is amazing, it's not just art tips, it's motivational and inspiring, thank you so much for this video, i appreciate the effort and care you've put into this, you're the best

"Trace & heavily reference to PRACTICE, just don't claim it as your own art" THANK YOU I keep telling my beginner-artist friends- trace/copy photographs; it's the quickest way to learn anatomy & proportions! But they're SO convinced that tracing is horrible & theft, no matter what. Go wild tracing, so long as you're trying to learn from it. If it's just for practice, you're fine! Just NEVER POST copied art, claiming it's original work. THAT'S when it becomes theft!!

Never traced art in my life, why? I remember as a kid I drew something and everybody was impressed, then this one kid who traced from a comic showed to everybody and they were saying he drew so good. He did admit he was tracing, I was a bit mad and just kept drawing normally, without thinking about tracing or using heavy reference. I'm still friends with that guy lol

bro, your videos are gold, especialy that tracing tip, yOU EXPLAINED IT SO WELL AS WELL HOW IT WORKED FOR ME, AND KEEP CONTUING U ABSOLUTE LEGEND. >:0

I'm still bitching about not having an art tablet....its been like 4 years now ;-; which is why I'm good at drawing on paper...

“I DONT NEED NO UNDERLINING STRUCTURE LIKE HOW I DONT NEED NO MAN!” PREACHHHHH SISTAAAA!!

me: *draw the head of a character * my friend : oh that's a pretty head-shot ! me : Aww thanks ! my friend: you're going to draw the rest of the body right? me: *sweats* 😅 weeeeeeell Idon'thavemuchtimeyouseei'mgonnagonowbye

Gonna be honest here, I've had so many art classes over the years, and somehow this 13 min video has taught me more than anything. Thank you so much.

Thank you for sharing these tips with me. I am now reading to start drawing.

2. *EXPERIENCED ARTISTS ARE PERFECT* Me: *looks down at my desk, which is covered in eraser shavings* Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="646">10:46</a> Oh jeez that wolf is basically any animal I attempt to draw, lmao. And I had to replay the part of you dancing like 3 times cuz I got distracted by the Alan Walker playing, hahaha. I'm really grateful RU-vid actually recommended me a fantastic video, for once. All your points hit home to some degree, though I ironically didn't get the hang of tracing til I took a college art class. I'll be sharing this with my less experienced art friends and followers. Thank you for making this!!

To be completely honest this was a amazing video and thank you for opening my eyes up to a whole new world of not only drawing but learning!

I saw the first 4 seconds and I immediately subscribed, this sounds like a channel I'm going to enjoy :')